Cathay Pacific flight attendants bemoan the carrier’s decision to add more seats to its flights. They say the new configuration, bringing the economy rows from nine to 10 across, slowed meal distribution.

The change took place in April on some of the airline’s Boeing aircraft. The rows accommodate the additional seat because the seats are narrower, from 46.99 to 43.43 centimeters.

The news came via the Flight Attendants’ Union, which conducted a survey showing the attendants are overwhelmed by “the increased workload.” There are more passengers on the planes, but no additional crew, so each flight attendant has more passengers to serve.

The aisles are narrower, too, so if passengers walk by as flight attendants are in the aisle, things become complicated. Staff said when the flight is full, they spend three hours completing meal service, a 30 percent increase in time over the previous configuration.

Passengers are also waiting longer to use bathrooms and there’s not enough space for luggage. The union said there’s been an uptick in passenger complaints.

Cathay Pacific said, “The seating configuration on the 777 aircraft has become the airline industry standard. It is not new to the market as many other major international airlines have already adopted it. They are also wider than the seats on other airlines which operate the same types of aircraft in the same configuration. An additional lavatory is being added to each regional 777 aircraft.”